Bolivia Coca Production Fell 12% in 2011, UN Survey Says

By Sara Shahriari -
Sep 17, 2012

Bolivia’s cultivation of the coca
leaf, the raw material used to produce cocaine, dropped roughly
12 percent in 2011 from 2010, according to a survey published
today.

The national coca monitoring survey by the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime and Bolivia’s government showed that
the area under cultivation decreased to 27,200 hectares from
31,000 (105 square miles from 120), marking the first such
decline in the Andean nation since 2005.

The survey’s release follows last week’s publication of a
U.S. government report that found Bolivia had “failed
demonstrably during the previous 12 months to adhere to their
obligations under international narcotics agreements.” Bolivian
President Evo Morales, a former coca farmer, rejected the U.S.
position.

“If they want authority in the fight against drug
trafficking, why doesn’t the U.S. eliminate the market in the
U.S.?” Morales said Sept. 15 in the state of Potosi.